This invention relates to improvements in bench mining method and apparatus.
Bench mining is a system in which a layer of usable product or overburden at the surface of the earth is mined by cutting the layer into a plurality of separate levels or benches each separated from the next in height by a substantially vertical cut line.
This enables cutting to be carried out at each bench line or cut line by suitable equipment simultaneously with the cut material being transported from the mine on conveyers.
Various arrangements have been proposed for this technique. Generally a large articulated arm arrangement is positioned centrally of the bench line and operates to transport a cutting device along the bench line. However as equipment becomes larger and larger to achieve economies of scale, this technique has found limitations and difficulties in the basic engineering of equipment on that scale.